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Readington Diner, NJ

Sir Nerdalot waiting for his lunch.

As you might have read in a previous post, I ❤ NY – Gems and navigating the city, we had to forgo the New Jersey experience due to a power outage. We were, however, driving through New Jersey, but what we saw of the state was limited to what we could see from the big roads. It was quite scenic, and us not being big-city-folks, would prefer to settle in a smaller town in New Jersey as opposed to New York City. Do not get me wrong, we all loved NYC, but we wouldn’t want to live in the city.

New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for nearly 3000 years, with the Lenape being the dominant tribe. I have written a little bit about the Lenape in this blogpost: I ❤ NY – City Hall Park (Civic Center). The Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements in the early 17th century. Later, the English seized control of the region and named it the “Province of New Jersey” after one of the Channel Islands, Jersey. New Jersey was the site of many decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century.

Anyways, while driving through New Jersey and taking in the scenery, our tummy’s start to feel hungry. Both Sir Nerdalot and myself have fond memories of the mom and pop-style diners from when we lived in the states (a hundred years ago, according to the Karate Kid), in Utah and Nevada, respectively. In Hunterdon County, Readington Township we found Whitehouse Station – a former railroad junction, serving as the endpoint of the “Rock-a-Bye Baby” (Rockaway Valley Railroad), that was built to ship peaches from orchards along the south part of the line. It also carried passengers and other freight. The Rock-a-Bye Baby was one of the railroads that never should have been built, during the railroad building craze of the late 19th century.

Old Mamasan and the Karate Kid happy to have found such a cozy diner.

Railroad or not, this is where we found a gem of a diner, The Readington Diner, a cozy diner with a homely feel. Just the way we like it! Their entries on the menu are way too many, and made it really hard to choose. The food, when we finally managed to make a choice, was great and the portions huge and prizes fair. (I am sure we could have had the leftovers put in doggie bags, but we are Norwegians, and really do not understand the “doggie bag-concept”. It is not in our culture, so we just don’t do it.)

Should you find yourself on this side of New Jersey and am hungry for a good meal – then make sure you make a stop at the Readington Diner!

Sir Nerdalot and the Karate Kid posing outside the Readington Diner, with full tummies.

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About me / Om meg

Have you ever held your hands out, filled with funky-looking coins - to a cashier, and hoped they would help you out by taking what they need, as payment for your bottle of cold water?

Have you ever just pointed at an item in a menu, that you can’t read, and hoped that you ordered something good?

Have you ever marked out a convenience store as your waypoint, so that on your return you know when to turn right – only to discover that that exact chain has stores on very friggin' corner in the city you so bravely try to navigate?

Have you ever mimed diarrhea in a pharmacy, hoping they would understand you, and give you medicine to stop it?

Have you ever said to yourself, stop making excuses why you can’t – because you know damn well that you can?

“But love is always new. Regardless of whether we love once, twice, or a dozen times in our life, we always face a brand-new situation. Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere. We simply have to accept it, because it is what nourishes our existence. If we reject it, we die of hunger, because we lack the courage to stretch out a hand and pluck the fruit from the branches of the tree of life. We have to take love where we find it, even if that means hours, days, weeks of disappointment and sadness." ~ Paulo Coelho